USA > Illinois > McLean County > History of McLean County, Illinois, Volume I > Part 5
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the Illinois Central railroad projected a branch from Kankakee to Bloom- ington which should pass through Cropsey township. For this road the people gave liberally, Daniel B. Stewart donating $10,000 for the ten miles in McLean County. The first extension of the Kankakee line in Mc- Lean County was to Colfax, giving both Cropsey and Anchor a road; then the line was later extended to Bloomington. This was the first connection by railroad between the county seat and the neighborhoods to the extreme northeast of the county. At one time a village named Potosi was started on the line between McLean and Livingston counties, but twenty years after- ward, when the railroad passed some miles away, it dwindled and died. The village of Cropsey is almost on the county line, and draws as much trade from Livingston and Ford as from McLean.
Dale Township .- This township was settled among the first in the county, along about 1827 or '28. Robert H. Johnson was among the early settlers, and William Beeler came to this section about 1830. There were still many Indians in the vicinity when Beeler settled here. This township was blessed with much timber, Twin Grove being one of the larger tracts, located on the northern border; Hougham's Grove, or Har- ley's Grove in the center, and the west point of Blooming Grove in the eastern. Dr. Isaac Baker and Deacon James Tomkins of New York were among the first settlers on the prairie lands. Sugar Creek and its branches furnished the water courses of the township. A water mill for grinding corn was built by Abraham Harley about 1847 on section 47, which ran for several years. There are two unincorporated villages in the township, Shirley and Covell. Shirley has two elevators, a school house, two churches, stores and several residences. Covell has a union church, a school house, stores and some residences. A Methodist church which stood on section 2 was blown down in the big storm of 1902.
Danvers Township .- This township contains more territory than the ordinary one, having 45 square miles. It is located in the north- west part of the county, containing much prairie land and over 10,000 acres of timber, of which Stout's Grove is the most important part. The timber attracted early settlers, and Ephraim Stout came here from Tennessee in 1825, being followed in 1827 by Matthew Robb, Robert McClure and Peyton Mitchell, Jonathan Hodges and his sons, U. S. and W. F. Hodges. Five years later Stout built a mill, which was a head-
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quarters for farmers for many miles during several years. Wheat was a staple crop of the farmers of this section for many years, and is still raised to some extent, but not so profitably. The old state road from Danville to Peoria passed through Danvers, and much east and west travel went that way. An early tavern was Wayside Inn, located in the west part of the township and kept by Alvin Goodenough. The first school was a private one taught by Archibald Johnson in 1832-33. The second teacher was Lyman Porter and the third Hosea Stout, who was convert- ed to Mormonism and went to Nauvoo and became an apostle. Matthew Robb acted as school treasurer and justice of the peace. He was also elected to the legislature. James Wilson was the first supervisor from Danvers township. The present supervisor is Chester R. Ewins, who served many years and was chairman of the board for a time. There have been many religious organizations in Danvers, the Friends, Cum- berland Presbyterians, United Brethren, Methodists, Congregationalists, Christians, Baptists and Mennonites being represented. The fifth house built in the settlement was erected by Thomas Walker for a church, building it of hewn logs. Many earlier religious bodies have disappeared. The Friends moved away, leaving no organization. Lutherans and Menno- nites have prosperous organizations. Danvers had honorable records in all the wars, from the Mexican War to the World War. George H. Fifer, a brother of Governor Fifer, who went from Danvers in the Civil war, was killed in battle in Texas. Several young men from Danvers lost their lives in the Word war.
The village of Danvers, laid out in February, 1836, was first called Concord, for the sake of Israel W. Hall, who came from Concord, N. H. The name was changed to Danvers in 1861. The first postoffice was called Stout's Grove, founded in 1848. Danvers is now a progressive and - modern little city. It has a water works deriving its supply from wells; a public library, two banks, three elevators, an electric interurban road and steam road, and for years the Willow Park sanitarium, a drink and drug cure, was run by Dr. Parkhurst. The Danvers Independent is a weekly newspaper. The village population is about 650.
There are lodges of the Masons and Modern Woodmen in Danvers, and a post of the American Legion. The Danvers club is a progressive social organization. The schools are up-to-date, and live parent-teachers' association keeps the women in touch with the schools. Five churches
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are functioning, the Presbyterian, Zion Lutheran, Mennonite, Methodist and Baptist. Danvers has no pavement, but the streets are well oiled.
Dawson Township .- This township was named in honor of John Wells Dawson, one of the two early settlers of Blooming Grove, who made his home for a time in 1826 in a site that is a part of the area of the township. The Dawson home was on the land afterwards occupied by John Wirt, near where the Old Settlers picnic was held for many years. There were many Indians in the vicinity when Dawson settled there. In fact, they had a small village near his home, having moved from the older site at Old Town timber. The Indians remained in this vicinity for a few years, when they moved to Livingston county. Other settlers joined Dawson in 1827 and 1829 in the persons of William Goodheart and Jesse Frankeberger, the latter a local preacher. Dawson was but one of the several townships which were formed from the settlements grouped about Old Town timber, a body of 12,600 acres of fine grove. There were 4,600 acres in Dawson, 6,620 acres in Old Town, about 250 acres in West, 320 acres in Arrowsmith, 300 acres in Downs and 600 acres in Empire. The Indians naturally grew attached to this fine grove, and great was their grief when they finally departed. The late Hon. Simeon H. V.Test donated to the county 20 acres of the timber which he owned in West Township, to be a perpetual county park. About one-fourth of the total area of Dawson Township was originally in timber, much of it being very wet and needing drainage to make it good farming land. The headwaters of the Sangamon River and Money Creek were in this township.
When a railroad was proposed to be run through this region from Bloomington east, many of the townships voted bonds to aid in its con- struction, and of this sort of aid Dawson voted $30,000. The road was first called Lafayette & Bloomington, later the Lake Erie, and finally absorbed as part of the Nickel Plate system. Two stations were located on this road in Dawson Township, one in the east called Ellsworth, the other to the west called Padua. The township was also called Padua at first, but the board of supervisors in 1891 changed the name of the town- ship to Dawson on request of the citizens. Ellsworth was named for Oliver Ellsworth, who with Jonathan Cheney and A. B. Ives owned the land on which the town was located. Cheney and Ives were directors in the new railroad. The station of Holder, just across the line in Old
ERECTED BY LEAN O HISTORICAL SOCIETY
1905
KICKAPOO INDIAN FORT MARKER NEAR ARROWSMITH.
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HISTORY OF MCLEAN COUNTY
Town, was named for Charles W. Holder of Bloomington, another direc- tor in the railroad. At one time there was a settlement called Stump- town south of Ellsworth, where a mill had been erected in the timber; it disappeared after the railroad went through. A village settled largely by Quakers was named Benjaminville, in the northwest corner of the township, but the station of Holder attracted nearly all the business that Benjaminville formerly enjoyed. Annual meetings are still held at the Quaker church at Benjaminville. On July 11, 1885, there was an Old Settlers association formed by a body of citizens assembled in Shinkle's hall in Ellsworth, and for 25 years an annual meeting and picnic was held at Betzer park, south of Ellsworth. The first president was Mark Banks, who served till 1902, when he retired. He died in 1907. The or- ganization was incorporated in 1898, the incorporators being Mark Banks, William Van Gundy, H. R. Arrowsmith, C .H. Whitaker, and G. W. Bane. The continued interest in the picnic was remarkable, the attendance often reaching from 5,000 to 8,000. In the years of its prosperity, many notables addressed the meetings, including Judge Weldon, Gen. McCler- nand, Hon. T. C. Kerrick, President David Falmley, Gov. Joseph W. Fi- fer, Hon. J. H. Rowell, Judge Thomas F. Tipton, Rev. J. J. Burke, Hon. John A. Sterling, Judge Roland A. Russell, L. H. Kerrick, I. N. Phillips, Dr. Richard Edwards, Dr. A. E. Stewart, Hon. Simeon H. West, and many others. Judge Tipton served as president of the day from 1891 until his death. On Aug. 8, 1901, the McLean County Historical Society met with the Old Settlers association and the papers on this occasion were of great historical value, recounting the early history of that region. They have all been preserved in the archives of the Historical society, and will some day be published, no doubt. The paper of Simeon H. West on the history of Old Town Timber was the best ever given on that sub- ject. The farming lands of Dawson Township are not so large in extent nor so rich in soil as some other townships, but values have gradually increased with the years.
Downs Township .- When township organization was perfected in 1858, this township was named Savanna, but owing to there being an- other township of that name in the state, the name was changed to Downs in honor of Lawson Downs, who settled in 1829 at a tract of tim- ber known as Diamond Grove, part of this township. There were 1,300 (5)
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acres of timber land in the county originally. Downs served under Cap- tain Covell in the Black Hawk war shortly after he settled here. Henry Jacoby became one of the first neighbors of Downs. Thomas Toverca, a preacher, settled here in 1830 and John Price came in 1836. The village of Downs as first laid out was called Priceville, but afterward changed to Downs. Sylvester Peasley was an early settler who left his mark upon the community. He began farming in a crude way in 1837, breaking the ground with an iron plow drawn by oxen. He raised cattle and razor- back hogs, which he drove to market in Chicago. He was elected super- visor for 15 years, and served as chairman of the board two years. John Cusey was another influential early settler who came here in 1836. He was employed by Jesse Funk in the cattle business. He was a republican, an anti-slavery man and was elected state senator. Several saw mills were erected in Downs Township along the Kickapoo Creek, but they thrived awhile then died out. Sevier Stringfield built a grist mill in 1831, using stones picked up from the land. In 1840 John Rice built another mill. The village of Downs was laid out in 1870 by P. B. Price. It thrived from the first, and is one of the prosperous villages in the county. It was incorporated about ten years ago.
Dry Grove Township .- This is one of the few townships of the county which has no town or village. Its name is taken from the grove of timber which is located in the southwestern part. William McCul- lough and his son, Peter, first came to the neighborhood in 1826. The son of Peter Mccullough, William McCullough, became circuit clerk and sheriff. He served in the Black Hawk war in his youth, and at the time of the Civil War was lieutenant colonel of the Fourth Illinois cavalry, being killed in battle at Coffeeville, Miss., on Dec. 5, 1862. Henry Van Syckle came in 1828 and was afterward one of the county commissioners. James Garton and Wilton Williams were among the first teachers who conducted schools in this township. Matthew Harbord built the first mill, which ran with horse power, and known as the "corn cracker" va- riety. A Mr. King built another mill which ground flour for years, and which was later abandoned and used for a barn, which is still standing. Stephen Webb, one of the earliest settlers of this vicinity, came from Tennessee in 1827 with William McCord, George and Jacob Hinshaw. Stephen Webb was one of the characters of the settlement, tall and
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straight, being over six feet in height. In later years his hair and beard were white. He was full of cheerfulness and optimism.
Empire Township .- Ever since the settlement of the county, Empire has had a leading part in its history. It formed a desirable place for first settlers, being provided with timber, water and rich prairie land. John Buckles came to this section in 1827 and settled at the grove which bears his name. This and other groves in the township comprise 8,700 acres. Buckles and his family of thirteen children always bore a leading part in the township's history. Michael Dickerson came in 1830. He had two sons, Henry and Frank, who were leading citizens. The Greenman fam- ily settled at Blooming Grove in 1829 and afterward removed to Buckles Grove. The Crumbaughs came in 1830. Henry Crumbaugh kept a noted pack of hounds. David Crumbaugh was another well-known member of the family. Squire Hiram Buck was a settler in 1837 and was the first postmaster at Leroy. He also served as justice of the peace for eighteen years and was one of the members of the county court in the '50's. Mah- lon Bishop came to Buckles Grove in 1835 and was elected to the legisla- ture in 1837. He was one of the first known "farmer candidates." A school was built in 1837, known as the Clearwater School, of which Will- iam Johnson was the first teacher.
Empire Township was early the home of the most prosperous farm- ers and cattle raisers of the county. There was timber for building, water for the stock and rich prairie lands for grazing. The earliest mill in this township was built in 1835, and shortly afterward there were mills built on Salt Creek by David Phillips and Isaac Williamson. They were crude affairs, but helped to grind the grain of the settlers.
A new era dawned for the township on the construction of the first railroad, the Danville, Urbana, Bloomington & Pekin, later the Big Four and now part of the Nickel Plate. The township donated $75,000 toward the construction of the road, and got two stations, Leroy and Empire. Later a branch of the Illinois Central was built from Leroy to Rantoul and West Lebanon, Ind.
Asahel Gridley and Merritt Covell laid out the village of Leroy in 1835, but owing to hard times it made slow progress the first few years. In 1838 Edgar Concklin built a frame store and next year a post route was established with Hiram Buck as postmaster. The route ran from
new sa
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Danville to Pekin via Leroy and Bloomington. John W. Badderly had started a town called Monroe a mile south of Leroy, but moved to Leroy when that place was laid out. Badderly and Amos Neal were Leroy's first merchants. Other early merchants were Baker & Greenman, L. H. and B. F. Parke, E. L. Morehouse & Son, and T. J. Barnett. Joseph Kee- nan was merchant, farmer and banker. The first church was established about 1830 by James Latta. In 1838 the Methodists built a church on a lot given them by Edward Concklin. In 1902 the Methodists built their present large and modern church. The Christian church was organized in 1888. Universalists have carried on services for many years and erected a chapel. The Cumberland Presbyterians organized a congrega- tion very early and in 1898 erected a brick church, also conducting the Leroy Seminary for higher learning for some years. The Spiritualists had a flourishing congregation at one time, and the late J. T. Crumbaugh left them an endowment for a church which is to be built at some time in the future. In 1904, on April 22, the McLean County Historical Society sponsored a celebration of the 75th anniversary of the settlement of Buckles Grove, at which papers recounting all the early history of Em- pire Township were read by Simeon H. West, Thomas L. Buck, John McConnell, George Hedrick, Mrs. J. V. Smith, Mrs. Adam Murray, Mrs. E. B. Young, Mrs. John McConnell, Mrs. A. L. Rike, John M. Harper, Nel- son G. Humphrey, J. R. Covey, Charles Williams, Joseph Keenan, S. D. Baker, Rev. W. E. Leavitt, A. B. Conkling. Leroy had several grist and saw mills in its day, the owners of these being Elisha Gibbs, and Buckles & Farmer. The first burned down and the second was eventually dismantled. Leroy has always had a good school system. It now has one of the best township high schools in the county. The Eugene Field school houses the grades. Leroy has one large factory, a branch of the Bloomington Canning Company, which is a busy place in certain seasons. It has one newspaper, the Journal, run by Melvin A. Cline. There are all kinds of retail stores. Leroy is the third largest town in the county, having a population of about 1,700.
Modern Leroy has some two miles of fine paved streets and one of the best city water plants in the state for a place of its size. Just at the west end of the main business section is a pretty little park and foun- tain, the gift of Simeon West, a pioneer. The city has several fine churches, flourishing lodges of Masons, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias,
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Red Men, Modern Woodmen, Eastern Star, Rebekahs, and a large post of American Legion named for Ruel Neal. The churches are the Presby- terian, Christian, Methodist, and Universalist. Leroy is one of the few places of its kind which maintains a Commercial Club, it being ten years old and having a record of much activity. There is a women's auxiliary to this club. Fine club rooms are kept up. The women of the city maintain an active Parent-Teachers' Association for co-operation with the schools. Other organizations of women are the Woman's Relief Corps and the Garden Club, besides several strictly social and literary bodies. There is a Country Club in Leroy, with a fine golf course and club house. Some day the city will enjoy a public library as a gift from the Crum- baugh estate. They have a splendid new high school building.
The Leroy fair is one of the best managed and most prosperous pub- lic enterprises of its kind to be found anywhere. It has continued for many years and drew great crowds for a whole week by its agricultural exhibits and entertainment features.
CHAPTER V.
TOWNSHIPS AND TOWNS, CONTINUED.
FUNK'S GROVE-GRIDLEY-HUDSON-LAWNDALE-LEXINGTON-MARTIN-MONEY CREEK - MOUNT HOPE - NORMAL - OLD TOWN -RANDOLPH - TOWANDA - WEST-WHITE OAK-YATES.
Funk's Grove Township .- Taking the name of the earliest and most prominent family of settlers, this township is one of the most noted farming tracts in McLean County. Isaac and Abraham Funk came to this county in 1824, and after looking at the conditions at Blooming Grove and Old Town Timber, they decided to locate at the grove to the west, which afterward took their name. William Brock came with them from Ohio, and he with the Funks set to work in the business of raising cattle. Brock built his cabin on Section 30 and the Funks built theirs on Section 16. Having built up a good business in cattle, Brock was.driving a lot to the market in Ohio, when he was taken sick at the home of John Dawson in Old Town, where he died of typhoid fever. The first spring the Funks were here they planted a crop and cleared off a tract in the edge of the grove, meanwhile building a house such as they could from poles and bark of the linden trees, 12 by 14 feet. One window was put in and a puncheon floor laid. Eighteen persons lived in this cabin in the winter of 1824-25. The cabin stood till 1832, when it was burned down. Isaac Funk was born in Kentucky Nov. 14, 1797. The family moved to Ohio in 1807 and from there to McLean County in 1824. Isaac Funk had little education, but he was a man of great practical knowledge, being wise in matters of handling cattle. He went into debt $2,000, a great sum for those times, and acquired his first land. Every dollar he could get he invested in more land, until he acquired 20,000 acres. He was
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married to Cassandra Sharp in 1826, and they had eight children. Land values greatly increased with the coming of the Illinois Central railroad, and shortly after that time Mr. Funk added 12,000 acres to his holdings, for which he contracted debts of $80,000. He fed and marketed large numbers of cattle and hogs, and became known far and wide as the larg- est dealer of that kind in Central Illinois.
Mr. Funk took an interest in politics and was a man of positive con- victions. He was a Whig for years, then joined the republican party. He was a friend of Abraham Lincoln, and in the campaign of 1860 he appeared in a Lincoln parade in Bloomington driving twelve yoke of oxen hitched to a wagon on which was a "float" representing the rail splitter. In 1862 he was elected to the state senate, and finding there much senti- ment in opposition to the Lincoln and union war policy, he made a thrill- ing speech denouncing the opponents of Lincoln as traitors. It thrilled the whole state by its vigor and directness. In the winter of 1865 Mr. Funk came home, was taken sick and died on January 29. His wife died the next day.
The Funk lands were amicably divided among his sons after his death, and they remain largely in the hands of the family to this day, the third and fourth generation being now in charge. The lands were developed along lines different from that of ordinary farms, being devoted to "corn breeding," where new varieties and better qualities of seed are constantly bred, after the manner of breeding stock. The Funk Bros. Seed Company was the outgrowth of this kind of agricultural methods, and this company built up a business in seed corn and other grains which extends all over the country and to many foreign lands. Many of Isaac Funk's sons and grandsons have attained local distinction in other lines than purely agricultural. Benjamin F. Funk, one of the sons, was mayor of Bloomington and congressman, while his son, Frank H. Funk, grand- son of Isaac Funk, is the present member of congress from this the Sev- enteenth district (1923). Another grandson, Eugene D. Funk, was mem- ber of the government food commission during the World War. Lafay- ette Funk, son of Isaac, was state senator for some time; also member of the board of supervisors and chairman of the board at one time.
Gridley Township .- This, the northwestern township of the county, is the largest in extent, being nine miles by six. Its southern border is
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along the Mackinaw River and there are 3,180 acres of timberland in the township. The first settlers came in 1833 and 1835, being James Bigger, Reuben and Taylor Loving, locating in the Mackinaw timber. John Sloan and John B. Messer arrived in 1833 and 1834. Messer had previously lived at Lexington and was a great hunter. He had given names to Tur- key Creek and Buck Creek from the kind of game he had found along the streams. Loving Creek, in south Gridley Township was named for one of the Loving Brothers. After the first settlers came, Gridley did not get many new inhabitants until along in the '50's, most of the settlements being along the edge of the Mackinaw timber. The Mackinaw River runs for five miles through the township.
The village of Gridley was laid out by Thomas Carlyle and George W. Kent on land they had bought from General Gridley, and they conse- quently named the place in his honor. It was platted in 1856, and the new railroad, the Toledo, Peoria & Western, ran its first train through the town on Feb. 28, 1857. The village grew slowly for some years owing to the backwardness of the farming country around it. A great storm swept over the country May 13, 1858, causing much damage to timber and property of all kinds. The villages of Gridley and Chenoa were both great sufferers. The first school house was built in the village in 1859. The town was incorporated in 1869, the first trustees being H. E. Stevens, president; W. H. Boies, George Juett, D. E. Sloan and S. L. Martin. A great windmill was built in Gridley in 1874 which for many years suc- cessfully competed with water and steam mills of the county in the way of making flour and grinding the grain of the farmers for feed and other uses. It was one of the notable institutions of the county during its exist- ence, but finally went out of business. Gridley has prosperous churches of the Methodist, Congregationalist and Mennonite denominations. Among the notable characters of Gridley for many years were the Drum brothers who were great hunters, and made annual excursions to Arkansas, to the Rocky Mountains and elsewhere to hunt big game. Gridley has many good stores and is a point for much trading from northern McLean and southern Livingston counties.
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